Here at Trident Building Consultancy, we have a team of qualified fire safety consultants who work to ensure our clients’ assets are fully compliant and, more importantly, safe for everyone who uses the building and the people in the surrounding area.
But how do they work in practice, and how do they differ from fire engineers?
In this article, we take a look at fire consultancy and the responsibilities of our fire consultants to demonstrate what a vital role they play in protecting people’s lives.
What is fire consultancy?
Fire consultancy is all about identifying and mitigating the risk of fire in a building or area. It involves carrying out fire safety surveys – a core area of expertise for Trident Building Consultancy – to uncover fire risk factors, and then devising solutions to ensure these can be rectified.
Fire consultancy is also a vital service for assets owners to ensure their assets remain compliant in an ever-evolving landscape of regulations. Failing to be compliant not only puts asset owners and landlords at risk of prosecution, but far worse than this, it also puts tenants, whether residential or company employees, at risk of injury or even death should things go wrong.
What qualifications do fire consultants need?
All of our fire consultants are fully qualified, meaning you can be confident their expert advice will keep you fully compliant and your asset safe for users and the general public.
But what qualifications do they have and what does this enable them to do?
There are several qualifications a fire consultant can take to become certified. These include:
- ABBA level 6 award in External Wall System Assessment
- MRICS Chartered Building Surveyor
- MCABE C.Build E Chartered Building Engineer
- BSc (Hons) Building Surveying
- FDIS Fire Door Diploma
So, checking that any fire consultant you’re considering working with has at least one of these qualifications is vital. All of our fire consultants are qualified to at least this level.
Matt Clare, who leads our fire consultancy group, represents the RICS on IRG Working Group 4 – Fire Risk Assessment, and also sits on the RICS Fire Safety Working Group.
These qualifications enable our fire consultants to provide a full suite of fire safety services and surveys on buildings up to 18m or six floors in height. Example services include external wall fire risk assessments (FRAEW), project managing fire safety remedial works, fire door inspections, and contract administration for fire safety remedial projects.
If required to carry out an FRAEW or EWS1 on a building above 18m in height, we partner with appropriately qualified CEng or IEng MIFireE Fire Engineers who peer review and sign off our work and provide appropriate Professional Indemnity Insurance.
This is one of the main differences between fire consultants and fire engineers. Whereas we can carry out some work on higher risk buildings such as fire door inspections, as fire consultants we cannot conduct FRAEW and EWS1 on buildings above 18m in height.
Fire engineers can because they have the qualifications needed to undertake more in-depth fire engineering analysis and design on complex or higher risk buildings.
So, whereas the role of fire consultant and fire engineer are both centred on protecting people, property, and environments from the risk of fire, there are key differences between them.
Generally, fire consultants survey existing buildings to identify deficiencies in workmanship and design and provide advice on fire risks. Fire engineers design buildings and fire strategies, and advise on fire risk for more complex and higher risk buildings.
As qualified fire safety consultants, what services do we provide?
At Trident Building Consultancy, our experts provide an extensive range of fire safety services to meet the needs of landlords, asset owners and asset managers. These include:
- RICS External Walls Systems (EWS1) Forms
An external wall system comprises of the outside wall of a residential building, along with features such as cladding, insulation, and fire breaks.
An EWS1 form checks all of these features for fire safety and is particularly aimed at blocks of flats, student accommodation and HMOs.
Our surveyors are qualified to RICS ABBE Level 6 Award in External Wall System Assessment and as such, are able to investigate external wall systems and sign-off EWS1 forms for a variety of property types.
- External Wall Fire Risk Assessments (FRAEW)
An FRAEW also assesses the external walls of a property in regard to fire risk. In fact, an FRAEW is actually used to arrive at an EWS1 rating, with the rating being based on the outcome of the FRAEW.
Our surveyors are qualified to undertake FRAEW assessments in accordance with PAS9980 and can coordinate and project manage any subsequent works.
- Project Management for fire safety remedial schemes
Project management is a core service for Trident Building Consultancy, and fire remedial works are no different. We provide a full service assisting with the procurement of such projects from all our regional offices.
- Project Management of large-scale fire testing
BS 8414 is a test that mimics a fire breaking out of a window in a residential building, exposing the cladding system to a severe fire. The objective is to assess the performance of the cladding in as close to a real-life situation as possible.
Trident has strong links with facilities able to conduct UKAS-accredited cladding tests and can manage the process from beginning to end.
- Contract Administration for fire safety remedial works
Contract administration is another core service from Trident Building Consultancy and this extends across all works we are required to get involved in, including fire safety.
- Project Monitoring of external and internal remedial works
Trident Building Consultancy specialises in project monitoring across all the sectors in which work and bring market-leading services to our fire safety projects.
- Pathology/opening up external walls
Construction defects can pose a fire risk so must be identified and put right. Our experts carry out minimally invasive inspections that identify any defects in construction, and follow this up with advice on how to rectify those, as well as supervising the repairs.
- Fire door inspections
Ensuring fire doors are in good working condition and comply with fire regulations is essential. Our fire safety team regularly conduct these and oversee any work required.
- Fire compartmentation surveys
A fire compartmentation survey is carried out to assess a building’s ability to stem the spread of smoke and fire. It focuses on the internal structure and features of the building, including walls, floors, ceilings, doors, and penetrations.
Professional. Peace of mind.
As fire is one of the most destructive forces that can impact a building, it is vital to have all inspection work carried out by qualified experts, and remedial work overseen by experts.
Here at Trident Building Consultancy, our team of fire safety consultants are on hand to ensure you remain compliant, giving you peace of mind that you and your tenants are not exposed to preventable fire risks.
It could be the most important call you make today.
